User Reviews

A: poured from a 12oz bottle into a stemless wine glass. Dark but not black; medium head with dense bubbles.

S: coffee grounds and cocoa powder.

T: has the characteristic "sharp" taste of a milk stout, but it's in the background. Main flavors are mocha and roasted (not burnt) malt. No bitterness at all (nor much of anything else). Simple and tasty.

I live less than a half hour from this brewery but up till now haven't had any of their offerings in years. Why? Because when I first got into good beer the River Horse beers were singularly unimpressive. I read that RH was under new management so I thought I'd give them another try and start with a new seasonal.

Dark black with a mediumish tan head and moderate lacing. The nose is all chocolate powder and a little cappucino. The taste is not complex but oh so good. It is like drinking a frozen hot chocolate with some offsetting bitterness. Very creamy mouthfeel and excessively drinkable. Impossible to tase any of the 6.7% abv. Well done River Horse! Now remake the rest of the line up.

This beer was a total surprise. Based upon local hearsay, I thought River Horse was -- how shall I say it -- less than adept when it comes to brewing. Whoever filled my head with that nonsense should be flogged, because Oatmeal Milk Stout is a fantastic beer. Judging from this offering alone, it's plainly obvious that the guys at Riverhorse know what they're doing. I'll be trying the others from their line in the near future for sure.

In any case, back to the Oatmeal Milk Stout. A friend gave me a few bottles, and I was immediately impressed. So much so that I went out and laid down 40 bones on a 24.

A - More or less what I'd expect a carbonated stout to look like. Black and opaque, but not hazy. Two finger brown/beige head quickly diminishes to one finger, then sticks around for a bit. Near perfect lacing. I can't imagine it getting any better, short of nitro.

S - Very much what you'd expect something called "oatmeal milk stout" to smell like. A hint of roastiness and coffee fades into a kind of cadbury milk chocolate aroma. Perhaps one of the most enticing stouts I've ever put my nose to.

T - Delicious. Smooth, mild lactose up front, followed quickly by oats and roasted grain in the nose, and caramel malt on the palate. Finishes off with the perfect degree of hop bitterness, and a hint of fruity esters. Very, very good. Perhaps the best sweet stout I've ever had -- and I've had a lot of them.

D - It's heavy, but most of my favorite beers are. For me, well made, smooth stouts are far more drinkable when compared to the other end of the spectrum. Something like Fuller's ESB might be a five for drinkability, whereas a much heavier brew like this would be cut off sooner.

All in all, very deserving of an "A" rating in general, and truly exceptional within the style. It's a limited edition, and disappearing from the shelves rather fast, so grab it while you can.

UPDATE: I've since tried Sierra Nevada Stout, and have to say it's very similar to the Oatmeal Milk Stout. If anyone is having a hard time finding the River Horse variant, the Sierra Nevada shouldn't be difficult to track down, and will give you a very good idea of what to expect. Think of the River Horse as a slightly thicker, slightly maltier, and less bitter version of the Sierra Nevada.

The first time I tried this beer I didn't like it. It was too heavy on the lactose. Fast forward a couple of months and I got to try it again. It was much much better. It pours sable brown-black with a 2 finger tan head that retains well and laces the glass nicely. Aroma is smokey from roasted malts, very bitter chocolate and a subtle hint of caramel. Flavor starts sweet but not heavy. Malts are well defined. Oatmeal imparts a slightly dry sweetness in the middle. Finish is nicely balanced by bitterness that cleans the mouth. Nicely carbonated a medium to full bodied beer that is thick but not heavy in the mouth.
No detectable alcohol which is nice. Drinkability is decent, I can have more than 1. Abv isn't too high. Another solid offering from this brewery.

A: Opaque, dark chocolate brown with a large frothy brown head that fades to a ring of bubbles with some small patches of lacing.
S: Slightly sweet, milky aroma is strongest with balancing roasted coffee bitterness and oatmeal. Overall smell is fairly mild, but nice balance of the milk and coffee with a little chocolate in the background.
T: Similar to the aroma in flavors and intensity. Starts with a slightly sweet milk flavor before turning over to roasted malt, coffee bean and chewy oatmeal flavors. Finish is chocolate and coffee sweet. Lots of flavors, nothing too intense, nice balance and basically no alcohol presence.
M: Lighter side of medium body with moderate carbonation and a dry roasted finish. Very fluffy and light in the mouth.
D: First sample I've had of the newer River Horse beers and I'm impressed. Big, balanced flavors without the intensity of some other bigger stouts. More of a session stout if this is style is your type of beer. Body was only thing that didn't quite mesh for me as it finishes slightly soda-like. Otherwise, a great stout that I will seek out again.

Poured a deep black body with a loose, bubbly tan colored head. Quickly reduced to a cap leaving pretty good amount of lacing.

Smells of roasted coffee beans with a hint of dark chocolate and milk. Some caramelized, sweet fruit is in the background.

Tastes of bitter, dark chocolate in the forefront. The roasted coffee takes a back seat at first, but lingers in the aftertaste. Some hints of milk also, accompanied by splashes of mocha. Slightly dry, nicely bitter finish. Good stuff.

Mouthfeel is very nice - it's smooth and milky. A little bit of an oily feel as well. Medium, full bodied but not overly heavy. Hop presence provides a slick crispness.

Could definitely polish off this entire 6 pack easily. Goes down very easily. The aftertaste is very pleasant as well, and the alcohol is masked pretty well. An excellent brew from kind of a hit or miss Jersey brewery.

Pours a very dark brown with attractive red highlights and a booming tower of a brown head. Roasty toasty goodness emanates from the nose, big burnt coffee malt notes, a lingering funk and a slight pungent bitterness. Semi-sweet, roasted chocolate malt attacks first, directly followed by a very bitter coffee bean flavor, orange peel and a floral grassyness on the finish. Smooth, oily slick and slightly creamy with a light/medium body that is just crazy drinkable. Really liking the changes im tasting, keep up the good work River Horse.

12 oz. bottle with the usual Limited Release label on it. You know the one. It's the label with a picture of barbwire on one side and an old fashioned jail cell on the other. The only thing different about this one and the others is the neck label. The neck label on this bottle has black spots all over it like a milk cow. The back label has the mandatory US information and what a limited edition beer is. I failed to see a date anywhere on the bottle. It's probably due to the fact that River Horse doesn't date their bottles.

When poured into a Victory pint glass, this River Horse brew was as black as a Black Angus cow. I held it up to the light to see if any light could penetrate this beer's solid black color. Long story short, it couldn't. On top of this solid black brew was a small 1/4 of an inch tan colored head of foam. Even though it was small, it had really good retention that left behind a tiny tan film, foamy rings, and a hand full of tan spots of lace.

This Milk Stout loved the scent of roasted coffee beans. That was the majority of the aroma. Hiding behind all of the roasted coffee beans was a hint of roasted malts, a splash of dark chocolate, and a drop of milk at the end. Great roasted coffee bean aroma, but it could have decreased that and increased some of the other roasted aromas. The milk at the end was a nice touch though.

The taste was pretty much the same as the aroma. The taste was nice and roasted with dark roasted malts, roasted coffee beans, a touch of bitter dark chocolate, a drop of milk, a subtle hop presence, and then this roasted beer finishes up with more roasted coffee beans. The taste wasn't all about the roasted coffee beans like the aroma was. It tasted like the coffee beans gave up some of their power to give way to more roasted flavors. It didn't completely give up all of it's roasted power. It showed up once more at the end of the taste to say goodbye.

This dark roasted Milk Stout was light to medium bodied with a gentle dry roasted aftertaste of dark roasted malts, roasted coffee beans, a pinch of bitter dark chocolate, and a subtle splash of milk. This aftertaste will linger on for a about a minute.

This is the best bottled River Horse beers so far. They are making some changes over there and this Milk Stout proves it. It wasn't overly roasted and you even get a tiny taste of milk. If there is one River Horse beer you need to try, this is the one. A six pack of this won't last for very long.

I never would have thought River Horse would have went this direction and even more so, that they would have done such a great job with it.

Had on tap at sampling room in Lambertville and brought back a case of bottles.
By the way, I really am a huge fan of their new logo and marketing, fits in great with the higher quality stuff coming out of there. Had the Hopalotamus there as well but will wait to give that a review until I have more than the 4oz sample. Good as well.

A nice rush of roasted coffee and chocolate malt coat the palate. The finish is of sweet lactose sugar and milk chocolate. Overall it is pretty sweet without overdoing it. A good hearty roasted malt base with a sweet sugary chocolately finish.

Velvety smooth. Creamy and lush without being thick. Very light and airy on the tongue.

A very easy drinker. The sweetness is kept in check and a hardly noticeable abv.

Pours a deep brown colour that is essentially black, with a biggish tan head that leaves sporadic marking on the glass.

The aroma has a bit of sweet chocolate milk to it, and is blended with a bit of rugged, earthy malt that is even somewhat roasty in nature. Perhaps some hints of coffee here and there as well. Nice.

The flavour takes the aroma and beefs it up a bit. All previously mentioned flavours come out in fuller effect, with roasted malt blending nicely with the sweetness from the chocolate once again. Coffee steps up a bit toward the middle of each sip and there's a decent bitterness at the finish. Alcohol comes into the mix at the finish as well and might be a touch too visible, but nothing overpowering. Mouthfeel is full bodied and hearty, with a bit of hotness from the alcohol coming through. Again, I'd have made said hotness a bit more tame, but that's just me.

This is a very nice beer overall, and probably my favourite of anything I've sampled from River Horse. I know I've knocked their regular lineup in the past as being mediocre, but the seasonals have been breathing some life back into the brewery and the new (-ish) Brewer's Reserve Series has been doing an even better job cranking out inspired, well made brews. Skip the basics and head for the limited stuff when it comes to River Horse, and make this one your top priority. A very nice beer.

Poured a dark black color with brown edges and virtually no head at all. What head was there was off white. Aromas of chocolate, some oatmeal, roast, and some lactose. Tastes of oats, caramel, chocolate, light coffee. and roast. Thin and somewhat flat body.

Hmmm, after puting in my rating and then reading the others, I can't help but wonder if there was something wrong with my bottle. Especially from the flat pour to flatter body. I may have to give this one another shot.

I picked this up at Thirsty's in East York PA. Poured chilled in my mug
A - A lot like root beer in appearance-deep brown w/ a smooth frothy tan head of 2 fingers w/ tiny pin sized bubbles and nice streams of lace

S - Deep roasty coffee notes w/ lots of mocha and milk chocolate w/ subtle vanilla aroma- very mild in all other respects. Not much yeast or hop scent to speak of, just dark malt

M - Silky smooth like a beer milkshake w/ creamy milky notes w/ plenty of roastiness you'd expect from a stout. A slight spiced pine hint whcih gives it a feel that is balanced and interesting - on the mark w/ spot on carbonation.

T - A deep roasted coffee richness w/ nice chocolate malt textures and a slight hoppy flavor w/ both spice and pine hops that marry w/ the vanilla cream flavor of the milk part of the oatmeal stout. The malt is full and sligthly dry giving subtle complexity

D - A great stout-I really enjoyed the full flavor combo of smooth malt and creamy milk stou in one bottle - Very drinkable

Pours a dark black with a hint of cherry color. Large 2+" tan head. Smells of malted milk with a hint of roasted coffee beans. Taste is more of vanilla toffee or coffee than the milk. Its definitely sweet with a not malt background and a tuch of hops at the finish. Very smooth with a bit af carbonation at the back of the throat. There is not a hint of the 6.7% ABV. Definitely one of the better river horse options.

S - Really close to the smell of actual milk, with some malted milk sweetness and roasted malt

T - Not as sweet or milky as suggested in the aroma, and the toasted malt characteristics really shine through

M - Nice little snap of carbonation on the tongue toward the finish. A bit viscous, and coating. Definitely what I would expect from the style.

D - This is a very drinkable milk stout in that it is not as sweet as some of the other brews I've tried in the style. Pretty basic overall, but still some nice subtle complexities that is leaving me curious for another sip.

Overall, I thought this was a really great example of the style and really enjoyable to drink. Definitely recommend.

i was looking forward to this beer for a long time after hearing about it from the people at the brewery. finally found some yesterday and was very excited. riverhorse proved again why they are one of my favorite local breweries. smooth feel with a creamy finish. exactly what i expected. this beer was easy on the mouth and had a couple of surprises. a slight taste of hops at the end was a delight combined with a warm smokey flavor. i would recommend this to anyone looking to expand their beer palate. yum :)

Pours black with some dark brown hues and a tan/light brown head that is sizeable at first, then descends to a lasting thin cover.

The smell is of chocolate with some roasted coffee and a vague fruitiness/earthiness.

The taste is of chocolate, dark bread and some raosted coffee. Not quite as sweet as some classic examples of the style, but that sits well with me. Leans sweet enough to fit with style, but with an earthy, slightly roasty dryness in the finish.

It has a creamy medium-to-full body.

A nice stout - doesn't quite have the lactose and sweetness that others have - but, as a sweet-ish stout, it's very nice. Alcohol is reasonably, but not completely, well-covered. If it were more so (or lowered), I could easily drink plenty of this one. As it is - still very drinkable!